15-year-old shot in Maryland high school bathroom, 16-year-old student in custody
Oliver Helbig/Getty Images
(JOPPA, Md.) — A 16-year-old student allegedly shot a 15-year-old boy during an “altercation” in the boys’ bathroom at Joppatowne High School in Joppa, Maryland, on Friday, authorities said.
The 15-year-old was attended to by school nurses and the principal, and then airlifted to a trauma center where he is in serious condition, Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said at a news conference.
The 16-year-old suspect left the school and fled to nearby houses, the sheriff said. He was apprehended “within minutes” thanks to community members, Gahler said.
The shooting unfolded on the suspect’s first day at the school, though it’s now four days into the school year, Gahler said.
It appears one shot was fired in the incident, the sheriff said, noting that the gun has not been recovered.
Authorities don’t know what the apparent argument was about, the sheriff said.
The suspect is known to law enforcement and police have previously responded to calls for service involving the teen, authorities said.
More than 100 police officers responded to the scene in Joppa, about 35 miles northeast of Baltimore, Gahler said.
“We’re just devastated to be a part of this awful group of schools that have experienced things like this,” Harford County Public Schools Superintendent Sean Bulson said. “And we’re going to do everything we can, working with this community, to make sure this absolutely never happens again.”
The school does not have metal detectors, officials said.
(SAN FRANCISCO) — San Francisco 49ers rookie Ricky Pearsall, who was shot Saturday in a brazen broad daylight attempted robbery in San Francisco’s Union Square, was released from the hospital on Sunday and “extremely lucky” to be alive, his mother and the 49ers said on social media.
Pearsall, 23, “sustained a bullet wound to his chest,” the San Francisco 49ers said in a statement.
The NFL team said Pearsall was released from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital Sunday afternoon as he “continues to recover” from the shooting.
“He and his family, along with the entire San Francisco 49ers organization, would like to thank the San Francisco Police Department, emergency medical services, doctors and staff at San Francisco General Hospital,” the team said in a statement posted on X.
Pearsall’s mother, Erin Pearsall, posted a statement on Facebook Sunday, saying, “I want to thank GOD for protecting my baby boy.”
“He is extremely lucky, GOD shielded him,” she wrote in the post that was shared on social media by her son’s 49er teammates, including quarterback Brock Purdy. “He was shot in the chest and it exited out his back. Thanks be to GOD it missed his vital organs.”
Shortly before 4 p.m. local time Saturday, police responded to a report of a shooting and found two men “suffering from injuries,” San Francisco Police Department said in a statement.
“During the attempted robbery, a physical altercation ensued, and both the suspect and victim were injured,” according to SFPD.
Preliminary information indicates the wide receiver was targeted for a Rolex watch he was wearing, sources confirmed to ABC News.
Pearsall was walking along a street when a 17-year-old suspect from Tracy, California, approached and tried to rob him, police said during a briefing outside of San Francisco General Hospital.
Police said Pearsall was not targeted because he is a football player, it was a random street robbery.
The suspect is in custody and charges are pending at this time, police said in a statement.
San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told a press conference that the investigation into the incident was still active.
“This kind of violence is simply unacceptable in our city, and we will do everything in our power to work with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins to assure that justice is served in this matter,” he said.
Asked whether the suspect had accomplices, Scott replied: “Right now, we believe it was one lone person. That may change as we get video evidence.”
Jenkins told the press conference that she expected to make a charging decision “by the middle of next week, either Tuesday or Wednesday.” Any charges will be filed in a juvenile court given the suspect’s age, Jenkins added.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed, meanwhile, described the incident as “terrible and rare.”
Pearsall — a first-round draft pick — had been dealing with a shoulder injury during the preseason and returned to practice last week, according to the National Football League.
“He is in good spirits right now,” Erin Pearsall said in her Facebook post. “Life is so precious my friends. Please love each other. My son was spared today by the grace of God. Please pray for my baby.”
ABC News’ Erica Morris and Bill Hutchinson contributed to this report.
(TEMPE, Ariz.) — Police in Tempe, Arizona, are investigating after a Wells Fargo employee was found dead in her cubicle four days after she last scanned into the building.
The Tempe Police Department responded to the office on Aug. 20 after being notified by building security.
Police identified the worker as Denise Prudhomme, 60.
Her cause of death has not yet been determined.
“The preliminary investigation did not show any obvious signs of foul play,” police said.
Prudhomme scanned into the building the morning of Friday, Aug. 16, police said. Her body was found on Aug. 20 in her third-floor cubicle, and she was pronounced dead at 4:55 p.m., according to the authorities.
A spokesperson for Wells Fargo said Prudhomme’s cubicle was in an underpopulated part of the building and that colleagues were informed of her death after her family was notified.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague, Denise Prudhomme,” a spokesperson said. “Our thoughts are with her family and loved ones, and we are in contact to ensure they are well supported during this difficult time.”
The Wells Fargo spokesperson said counselors would be made available to support employees affected by the incident.
“We are committed to the safety and wellness of our workforce,” the spokesperson added.
Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden departs the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building on June 03, 2024 in Wilmington, Del. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
(LOS ANGELES) — More than a year after a plea deal between prosecutors and Hunter Biden collapsed, jury selection in the federal tax trial of President Joe Biden’s son is scheduled to begin this morning in a Los Angeles federal courthouse.
U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi plans to seat 12 jurors and four alternates for a trial that is expected to throw Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings, his struggles with addiction, and his lavish spending into the spotlight.
Prosecutors allege that Hunter Biden engaged in a four-year scheme to avoid paying $1.4 million in taxes while spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on exotic cars, clothing, escorts, drugs, and luxury hotels. He has pleaded not guilty to a nine-count indictment that includes six misdemeanor charges of failure to pay, plus a felony tax evasion charge and two felony charges of filing false returns.
All back taxes and penalties were eventually paid in full by a third party, identified by ABC News as Hunter Biden confidant Kevin Morris.
The trial comes three months after Hunter Biden was convicted by a Delaware jury on three felony charges related to his purchase of a firearm in 2018 while allegedly addicted to drugs. His sentencing in that case is scheduled for Nov. 13.
If convicted in Los Angeles, Hunter Biden faces a maximum combined sentence of up to 17 years in prison.
After two days of jury selection this week, opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin on Monday. Prosecutors expect to spend six days presenting their case, and Hunter Biden’s team has said it would spend two days on his defense.
Here’s what to know about the proceedings:
How will jury selection work?
Judge Scarsi plans to use a similar process used in Hunter Biden’s Delaware trial — where jury selection took one day — to select the jury in the Los Angeles trial. One hundred and twenty potential jurors from from Los Angeles and six nearby counties are expected to be summoned for jury selection on Thursday.
The jury selection process will center on a lengthy questionnaire that includes 50 questions on topics including prospective jurors’ interactions with law enforcement and their experiences filing taxes.
Four of the questions directly address Hunter Biden’s unique position as a criminal defendant whose father is the president of the United States, including asking if prospective jurors’ thoughts on the upcoming presidential election would impact their decision-making and whether they believe law enforcement agencies make decisions based on politics.
“Do you believe Robert Hunter Biden is being prosecuted in this case or is not being prosecuted in other cases because his father is the President of the United States and was until recently a candidate for President?” one question asks.
Five questions also touch on addiction, including if potential jurors have family members who suffer from substance abuse issues or if they have experience with addiction treatment and counseling.
“Do you believe someone who is addicted to drugs or alcohol should not be charged with a crime?” another question asks.
What do prosecutors allege?
In their 56-page indictment, prosecutors alleged that Hunter Biden willfully avoided paying taxes by subverting his company’s own payroll system, that he failed to pay his taxes on time despite having the money to do so, and that he included false information in his 2018 tax returns.
“[T]he defendant spent this money on drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing, and other items of a personal nature, in short, everything but his taxes,” the indictment alleged.
Prosecutors also highlighted millions of dollars that Hunter Biden received from overseas business in Ukraine, China, and Romania in exchange for “almost no work.”
Although Hunter Biden eventually paid back all his back taxes and penalties with the help of a third party, Judge Scarsi blocked defense attorneys from introducing that information to the jury.
“Evidence of late payment here is irrelevant to Mr. Biden’s state of mind at the time he allegedly committed the charged crimes,” Scarsi wrote in an order last week.
Why is this going to trial?
Last June, Hunter Biden agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanor offenses, acknowledging that he failed to pay taxes on income he received in 2017 and 2018. The deal also allowed him to enter into a pretrial diversion agreement to avoid criminal charges related to his 2018 firearm purchase.
Had the deal worked out, Hunter Biden would have likely faced probation for the tax offenses and had his gun charge dropped if he adhered to the terms of his diversion agreement.
However, the plea deal fell apart during a contentious hearing before U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika, who took issue with the structure of the deal.
By September, special counsel David Weiss had unsealed an indictment in Delaware charging Hunter Biden for lying on a federal form when he purchased a firearm in 2018.
The federal indictment in Los Angeles for the tax crimes followed in December.
